For Immediate Release
January 15, 2026
Press Contact: Communications & Outreach Director Nikki Gamer | gamer@afsa.org

Washington, D.C. – At a time when morale and trust in the State Department and among the Foreign Service are at historic lows, the State Department has rolled out a new employee evaluation form that risks making career-defining decisions less fair, less transparent, and more vulnerable to bias.

AFSA has reviewed the State Department’s newly introduced employee evaluation form and identified multiple concerns. The new form was rolled out without negotiation with AFSA and more than three quarters through the current evaluation cycle. It employs vague, poorly defined criteria, gives disproportionate weight to second line supervisors who may have limited insight into an employee’s work, disadvantages certain groups of employees, and sharply limits space for narratives and concrete examples of performance. As such, AFSA will be filing an unfair labor practice against this move by the department.

Performance evaluations shape careers, promotions, and retention. These unilateral changes reduce fairness, undermine merit-based promotions, further damage morale, and weaken the department’s ability to retain experienced public servants.

This decision highlights the real-world consequences of eliminating collective bargaining rights and underscores the need to restore them through the Protecting America’s Workforce Act. Foreign Service employees deserve a seat at the table on changes that directly affect their livelihoods, and we urge the U.S. Senate to vote on this act to reaffirm that experience, professionalism, and due process still matter in public service.

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) is the professional association and labor union of the men and women of the United States Foreign Service.